1987 Nissan 200sx NICO Forums Ride of the Month for July 2009

It all started back in 2001 when I was 17 years old junior in high school.At that time I just got my license and working.Iâ€™ve always loved cars so by the time I got my license I wanted a car to fix up.At first I was looking into getting an mkIII Supra but could not find a decent one.I couldnâ€™t wait for a car so my uncle wanted to give me his 1987 200sx SEV6 since he just bought another car and rarely uses it. I wasnâ€™t ecstatic about it since it wasnâ€™t the car that I was looking for and it needed a lot of work such a new paint job and new upholstery since the dash was cracked and door panels was just falling apart.I shouldnâ€™t be complaining since the car was free.

After having the car for a couple months I wanted to start modifying it already so I searched for after market parts and was very disappointed since there is practically no aftermarket support.With that I literally gave up on the car and wanted to get a car with aftermarket support.I drove the car for another 2 years until I found a 1993 Acura Integra GS-R.I started modifying the Acura while the Nissan sat in the backyard collecting dust.The only time it got driven was when I had the integra at the shop being fixed or just started every morning for 15 minutes.The integraâ€™s life only lasted for 3 years due to thieves.Right before the car got the stolen I had the Nissan up for sale and no one wanted to buy it.I was looking for another car to modify so I went on a hunt for another car to fix up but my parents didnâ€™t like the fact of my car getting stolen so they told me to stop fixing up cars.

It was the year 2006 when I started the Nissanâ€™s transformation.This time I was determined that thieves was not going to stop me in building my project.I started researching everyday about the car and what parts I can use on the car.I stumbled on a forum (www.club-s12.org)thatâ€™s dedicated for the 200sx.The forum was really helpful and thatâ€™s when I was decided that Iâ€™m going to fix up the Nissan.Certain 240sx parts would fit also so I gathered certain s13 parts as well

2007 was the year of collecting parts.The progression of the car was slow since this time around I wanted to fix up this car right.So I gathered up parts first before actually installing.The first thing I did was saving up for some rims. One lucky day I was browsing through the web and saw a set of 16x7Ford Crown Victoria rims for dirt cheap.I knew I couldnâ€™t pass it up so the next day I scooped the rims.Next was suspension, there is only one company that makes springs which is Canuck Motorsports.Luckily a fellow member was selling his set and a pair of z31 tokico illuminas for the rears.All I needed was the front shocks.I sourced ebay and found a brand new pair of tokicoâ€™s for the fronts.Since the suspension was done next was the interior. The dash looked horrific so I got a dash from another member from the forum.Once I got the dash I got a momo hub, nrg quick release with a momo steering wheel. I also changed out the stock s12 shifter to a s13 shifter to make it shorter instead of having the long truck like shifting. The other s13 part I got was the jdm s13 bumper lense that fits perfectly with the s12 bumper, only thing that I had to do was wiring to make it work.I also gathered up some mkI s12 parts such as the marker lights and shift boot.In order for the markers to work I had to cut the grill in order for them to fit.After almost a year of gathering parts I decided it was time to put it together and with the parts on it now thatâ€™s how the car currently stands..

Engine wise I decided to stick with the VG30e since I donâ€™t want to hassle with cops about swap motors and smog issues. the only mod was an air filter and a custom 2.5 catback exhaust with a Megan canister exhaust.

Now that I look back I was very happy that I didnt sell the car. I still have a long way to go until Iâ€™m completely satisfied with it but currently Iâ€™m happy on the way it looks right now.To get it to this point it took a lot of learning experience from my previous project.I know for the fact I would want to have too low of a car since I still have to make it up on my driveway since I would not want to park it ouside since the other car was stolen in front of my house.

The whole point of this build is to be different since I rarely seen these fixed up and this project is more of a restoration than a track car. Some day Iâ€™ll hit up the track. As of now its just a lightly modded street car rolling on the streets of Los Angeles.Future plans is to get the car into show quality and enter it just to get the chassis a little bit more recognition